Caption: Pteranodon and human. Artwork depicting a pteranodon next to the 19th century American palaeontologist O. C. Marsh holding some fossil bones. In 1871 Marsh discovered the first giant pterosaur fossil. Pteranodon lived during the Late Cretaceous, 88-80 million years ago. It had a wingspan of up to nine metres and the head had a large crest which is thought to have been used as a sexual display.